Week 23

Dear Ellison,

You are 23 weeks old now! You weigh just over a pound now and head to heel, you're almost 12 inches long.  You've developed your sense of movement and can tell when I'm up and moving around.  Blood vessels are developing in your lungs to prepare you for breathing and your hearing is becoming much more keen - you can hear what we hear now, just a little softer!  Here are the little details of the week.

How Far Along? Twenty Three Weeks...119 days to go!

Weight Gain? About 13 pounds.

Sleep?  Still sleeping like a champ.  Enjoying it as long as I can!

Miss Anything?  Margaritas?  The only reason I say that is becuase yesterday was Cinco de Mayo, and really a virgin margarita is just a lime slushie.  :-)

Movement?  Oh yes.  Still quite the wiggleworm!  No major punches or kicks yet, but I'm looking forward to those so Barrett can start to enjoy them too!

Food Cravings? Still fruit mostly.  I got really great peaches at the grocery store the other day!  I also but some sliced peaches that I've been eating straight out of the jar.  I think it's time I hit up the Farmer's Market!

Any Aversions?  Still eggs and sometimes chicken...the smaller the pieces of chicken, the better I fare.  Big chunks or full on breasts are a little much for me.

Gender? It's a GIRL ~ Ellison Gray.

Symptoms?  Yesterday, I spent the entire day (8:00-6:00) at picnics for work...our annual NICU reunion picnic for about 1000 people and the Blume Hem/Onc Clinic picnic for about 300 people.  It was so hot!  I spent pretty much all day in the shade and drank water like it was my job, but it was still a scorcher.  I took my rings off once to stretch my fingers a little, and couldn't get them back on!  Definitely made me nervous about how I might feel in July and August!  I was so worn out when I got home!  I jumped in the shower and was fast asleep by about 8:00.  I'm still feeling a little sore today and probably could continue to spend the rest of the day being lazy!

Best Moment this Week?  Getting to see our little Ellie Bean again and hearing that she still looks wonderfully healthy!  We are also making major strides in the home improvement/nursery department!  Barrett's almost done painting our downstairs renovations and I'm heading to Lowe's in a bit to pick our the color for the nursery.  We also ordered our crib and dresser/changing table this week (thanks so much to my dad and Sondra!) and are excited for them to come in!

Looking Forward To...  Next weekend we head to Florida for a long weekend.  We wish we could stay longer, but 4 days is all we could really swing without having to use PTO - we're trying to save all that for when Ellison makes her arrival!  Either way, we are looking forward to our little getaway and some Florida sunshine!